NAGPUR: Union minister for road transport, highways and shipping, and also city MP, Nitin Gadkari announced infrastructure development projects worth around 7,000 crore for the city, and claimed all will be executed within three years. He also assured to complete metro rail project within three years and perform bhoomipuja of AIIMS very soon.

Gadkari and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis performed bhoomipuja to convert 45km Inner Ring road into cement concrete at Omkar Nagar square on Sunday. Gadkari has sanctioned Rs400 crore for Inner Ring road from his ministry and the project will be executed by the state's public works department within two years.

"Outer Ring Road project will also be completed. The centre has approved 1,272 crore and work is likely to begin within two months. I approved projects worth 6,889 crore from my ministry itself. With the help of Fadnavis, I have plans to provide employment to 50,000 youths from MIHAN in two years. Besides, the city will get various other projects, like bio-gas plant, national cancer institute, IIM, IIT, NIPER etc," Gadkari said.

Maintaining his style of giving innovative suggestions, Gadkari directed the PWD to supply the tar and metal removed from Inner Ring road to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) for constructing roads in unauthorized layouts on the city's outskirts. "Also, PWD should make use of silt removed from Nag and Pili rivers for Inner Ring road cement concrete project. NMC should desilt the two rivers up to 3 meter and supply silt to PWD for filling in road instead of using sand. This will help rejuvenate the two rivers and also make use of the silt," he said.

The PWD will execute Inner Ring Road project in two phases. First Inner Ring road will be converted into cement concrete from MIDC Hingna via Narendra Nagar, Wathoda, Kalamna to Mankapur, and also widen road from Mankapur via Katol Road to Dhaba. The latter stretch and the road from MIDC Hingna to Wadi will be converted into cement concrete in second phase.

Claiming that all parts of city will get 6-7 hours water supply within a year, Gadkari said there were some flaws in the 24X7 water supply project. "Mayor Pravin Datke and civic chief are working to resolve all issues. Two new overhead water tanks at Omkar Nagar and Nalanda Nagar were also inaugurated today. Fadnavis and NMC taking are efforts to transform city into smart city. It will actually happen in case we develop unauthorized layouts. CM should take initiative and also ensure there are no more unauthorized layouts in future," he said.

Assuring to make the city a safe city, Fadnavis directed civic chief Shravan Hardikar and NIT chairman Shyam Wardhane to regularize all unauthorized layouts soon with powers given to them by the government. "Metro rail project going on at record pace and will be completed before new three corridors planned at Mumbai and Pune," he said.

Datke requested Fadnavis and guardian minister to provide special financial assistance for pulling out NMC from setback received from scrapping of LBT.

CM Devendra Fadnavis and union minister Nitin Gadkari announced they would make the city safe, smart and planned, at a programme held by blocking one side of the busy Ring Road stretch at Omkar Nagar. The pandal was erected on one half of the road while the remaining was kept for seating arrangement and vehicles of the ministers. Even IAS officials were part of the programme.